1. Field of Invention
This invention relates generally to seating stools, and more particularly to a modular stool usable in schools, kindergartens and other facilities intended for very young children, the stool being capable of functioning as an individual seat or desk unit, or of being so interlinked with like stools as to create different multi-seating configurations.
2. Status of Prior Art
In schools, kindergartens, play rooms and other facilities intended for small children whose ages lie in the four to eight year range, the need exists for chairs or seats as well as desk units in a scale appropriate to these tots. Thus in a kindergarten having a class of twenty children, at least an equal number of chair and desk units are required. While children can play with toys on the floor, a desk unit is desirable, not only to make it more convenient for a child to play with toys, but also to provide an elevated surface on which a child may draw or paint.
The total cost of small chairs and desk units for furnishing a kindergarten or school room is relatively high, even if the cost of an individual chair or stool or of a desk unit is modest. In a period when school budgets are being cut back in order to reduce the tax load on local communities, schools may no longer be able to afford the required number of chairs and desk units.
But apart from the cost factor are space requirements, for one must be able on occasion to clear a kindergarten room of all chairs and desk units in order to provide an unobstructed play area for children. To do this, a storage facility is required to accommodate these furnishings.
In order to reduce storage space requirements, it is known to provide stackable stools or chairs. Thus the Iskander U.S. Pat. No. 3,600,036 discloses reinforced plastic seats that can be stacked one above the other or interlocked in tandem. And the Heyer U.S. Pat. No. 3,430,588, shown three identical stools which can be internested to create a cube requiring relatively little storage space.
My prior 1991 U.S. Pat. No. 4,995,668 discloses a modular stool capable of functioning in a kindergarten or similar facility as an individual seat for a child, which stool when interlinked with like stools can be used for group seating. The stool is comprised of a wedge-shaped seat section whose rear end is broader than its front end, and left and right side sections integral with the seat section and outwardly inclined with respect thereto to form an arch. The left side section is defined by a broad single leg centered with respect to the left and right ends of the seat section, the right side section being defined by left and right narrow legs joined to the front and rear ends of the seat section. Also included is a cross arm bridging the narrow legs below the seat section to define a transverse slot whose width is substantially equal to that of the broad leg, whereby two stools may be interlinked by inserting the broad leg of one into the slot of the other.
The stool disclosed in my prior patent, though effective for its intended purposes, leaves something to be desired under certain circumstances. When the patented stool is placed on a floor, then resting on the floor surface are the narrow left and right legs of one side section of the stool, and the single broad leg of the other side section. Should the floor have an even surface, the three legged stool is then stable and a child sitting on the stool cannot rock it. But should the floor surface be uneven, as is sometimes the case, the stool may then be somewhat unstable, for the lower edge of the broad leg will not be flush with the uneven floor surface.
Another problem encountered with the patented stool is possible finger entrapment when the stool is being interlinked with a like stool by inserting the broad leg of one stool in the transverse slot in the other stool. The width of this slot matches the width of the broad leg, and the broad leg inserted in the slot then engages the upper edge of the slot. In making this insertion, there is a danger that the fingers of the operator grasping the broad leg may become entrapped in the slot, the fingers then being interposed and squeezed between the broad leg and the upper edge of the slot in which the leg is inserted.
Both safety and stability are important factors in the environment of a kindergarten or playroom, for the children who manipulate and use these stools cannot be counted on to exercise care in this activity. It is important, therefore, that the stools be, as it were, "fool-proof" so that regardless of how carelessly the stools are interlinked, there is no danger of finger entrapment, and regardless of the condition of the floor surface on which the stools are placed, the stools are stable.
Also of prior art background interest are the following patents:
______________________________________ 2,890,087 6/1959 Stevens 2,891,601 6/1959 Mauser 3,669,494 6/1972 Lohmeyer 3,774,962 11/1973 Watamura et al. 3,994,281 3/1976 Piretti ______________________________________